Will all species follow the trilobite down the road to extinction? Discover the changing conditions on ancient Earth that led to both population explosions and mass extinctions with a video presentation. The narrator shows examples of times when life flourished, which were often followed by periods where freezing temperatures ended the lives of many prehistoric lifeforms.

Concepts

the ice age, mass extinction, evolution, the earth's history, rock layers, glaciers

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Show the resource during an evolution unit or lesson plan about mass extinctions
• Have the class research Northern Africa to learn more about the region's wealth of fossil records

Classroom Considerations

• Review a timeline of eras on Earth to give learners some reference for the periods discussed in the video

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Animated organisms give pupils an idea of what early lifeforms looked like
• Presents the interesting content in a way that will engage both middle and high school scientists

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.6.2 SL.7.2 SL.9-10.2